Madeleine McCann Is Wanted – Will David Cameron Now Find Michael Dixon?

MADELEINE McCANN: Michael Dixon is missing. His brother David has written to David Cameron. The letter is open for all to read. But it did not make it to the front page of the Sun. David Cameron has yet to use that paper or any to write an open reply.

Says David Dixon:

“It’s great news for all families of Britons missing abroad that David Cameron and the Met are helping the McCanns. Now we’re asking them to do the same for us.”

His letter goes:

“We need political action to break the wall of apathy … Michael has not become famous like Madeleine, but he is no less important and our pain is no less sharp.”

Any news? One source widely repeated tell us:

The British authorities have admitted there is a problem with red tape. Minister of state Jeremy Browne said in a letter on 12 May : “The Costa Rican police invited the UK police to discuss the case via a teleconference, but this offer was turned down.”

As for the facts – they are few:

Michael Dixon was 33 when he vanished after leaving his hotel room at the Villas Macondo hotel in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. The BBC says the last time we know he was seen was on 19 October 2009.

Missing Abroad agrees. Although this website says he was last seen on October 18.

What they can all agree on is that on 21, October 21, 2009, Dixon was reported missing. They also agree that he was a British journalist. He told hotel staff he was going for a swim. His hotel room was found undisturbed and all of his belongings accounted for.

Michael Dixon walked out of his hotel room in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, on 18 October 2009 and vanished without a trace. His disappearance is just one of the 12 incidents over the past year where a tourist has either gone missing or been murdered in a country that is sometimes referred to as the ‘Switzerland of Latin America’. None of these cases has been solved.

And:

Mr Dixon works in Brussels for RISI, an American company providing information on the forestry industry.

So. What happened? We do not know. But one fact is clear: when someone goes missing abroad, the family and those looking for them can face huge obstacles.

What can be done?

Elizabeth Braw reports:

Soon, no more cursing the EU? EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to turn the behemoth into a champion of regular people by helping all EU victims of crime. Now, if EU citizens are mugged in another EU country, they’ll get legal and psychological assistance in their own language.

Q: If I’m mugged in Greece, who do I call?

A: First thing, you call the police. Our new rules will make sure that those public officials who first come into contact with a victim when a crime is reported — police officers, prosecutors or judges — are trained so they treat victims properly, give you the right information and advice and are able to direct you to the appropriate victims’ rights organization. For example, if you are French and were robbed in Britain the police will put you in touch with a British organization. And if you’re too traumatized to follow up right away, you’ll be able to contact your national organization when you return to your home country. Today, who takes care of you? What if there’s a trial, and what if you have to travel to the trial? What if you suffer psychological trauma? We want to treat victims with dignity and ensure that they get the recognition they deserve.

That all stating the obvious. The EU wonk is just making a move to have matters of national policing controlled by the EU.

What else?

Q: Madeleine McCann, a British girl, was abducted in Portugal four years ago, and her parents faced huge difficulties with the Portuguese police. How would your initiative have helped them?

A: It doesn’t just consider the direct victims, such as Madeleine McCann, but also indirect victims, like victims’ parents, husbands and wives. With the new measures citizens will now have the right to receive information from the competent authorities on their rights and their case in a way they understand and enabling them to play an active role in the criminal proceedings.

All utter bilge, of course. The police will do as they must in each case. You can phone your country’s consulate. You can contact the media. You can fly out family and friends. You can hire a local lawyer. It makes not a jot of difference if the authorities have neither the money nor the inclination to investigate the matter as you would like…

Although I can understand where the family is coming from, I’d feel the same, there is a big difference between a 4 year old and a 33 year old.
so many teenagers and adults disappear by choice each year it’s a bit of an uphill struggle to get any interest……..

Maria

That poor family. I’d be desperate in their situation.. But, as cool says, it’s a different matter with adults because a lot actually disappear by choice, for any number of reasons. Anyway, this chap might have drowned, perhaps?

It will never be seen in quite the same way for a missing adult as when it looks as though a child has been taken. Children are so vulnerable and any crime against them is seen as especially heinous.

I do think this family should have appropriate help and support though.